After turning the Frank Miller graphic novel "300" into a hit, Warner Bros. has optioned the rights to Miller's "Ronin" to adapt into a live-action feature.

Sylvain White ("Stomp the Yard") will direct.

In the story, a ronin, or disgraced samurai warrior, bears the shame of allowing his master to be assassinated by a shape-shifting demon in 13th century Japan. When the master's sword is unearthed in mid-21st century New York, the ronin and the demon are brought to life and battle gangs of mutants and thugs to try to take possession of the mythical sword.

The graphic novel was published by DC Comics.

Pic will be produced by Gianni Nunnari and Nick Wechsler, with Craig Flores exec producing. Nunnari and Flores, who are partners in Hollywood Gang, were producers on "300." Miller will be an exec producer as well.

"Ronin" will be shot in a fashion similar to that employed for "300," in which blue- and green-screen lensing was done on a Montreal soundstage to create an ancient Greece battleground for a $65 million film. Costs are comparable for "Ronin," making the film a big step up for White, who graduated from directing videos to helming the film "Stomp the Yard" at a cost of around $14 million.

"Ronin" is "one of Frank Miller's earliest and best graphic novel creations, one that has long been a cult graphic novel," White told Daily Variety. "There is a classic good-evil struggle between the samurai and the demon."

While White has several development projects percolating, he said that "Ronin" is his top priority.

"This is the one I'd like to do next, because I'm so passionate about it," he said.

The project, optioned last month by Warner Bros., is about a disgraced samurai warrior (the ronin) who bears the shame of allowing his master to be assassinated by a shape-shifting demon in 13th century Japan. When the master's sword is unearthed in mid-21st century New York, the ronin and the demon are brought to life and battle gangs of mutants and thugs to try to take possession of the mythical sword. Here's a clip:

Daniel Robert Epstein: Years ago I got to interview Zach Snyder for the DVD of Dawn of the Dead and I said to him, "Please don't f*ck up 300." I also was lucky enough to visit the set of 300 but even when I finally saw the film I still didn't expect it to look that way. Even though Ronin is also drawn by Frank Miller, it was a lot earlier in his career so it looks much different from the works that were later adapted to movies.

Sylvain White: Yes, it's different in a lot of ways. It's Frank Miller's first completed graphic novel on his own. It's very different style-wise and it's also very different story-wise. It's not as structured as 300. The adaptation process is a very different one, and the look is going to be completely different from 300.

"Ronin," which Miller wrote and drew in the early 1980s, centers on a masterless samurai who is reincarnated in a dystopic near-future New York populated by squatters, factions and mutants. The ronin must try to destroy a demon with a mystic sword, which also is found in New York.

Sylvain White is attached to direct, while Gianni Nunnari, one of the producers behind the Miller adaptation 300, and his Hollywood Gang are producing.

In April, movie and comic book fans will get a chance to see director Sylvain (Stomp the Yard) White's take on the Vertigo Comics series The Losers, which promises to be fairly faithful to the comics by Andy Diggle and Jock about a team of rogue espionage agents.

Quite some time before he became attached to do that, White's name was attached to an adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel Ronin to be produced by Warner Bros. and the producers behind 300. "Ronin" was Miller's earliest work published by DC Comics in 1983, a few years before "The Dark Knight Returns," the story of a Japanese ronin from feudal times reincarnated in a futuristic New York.

Earlier today, when ComingSoon.net/SuperHeroHype spoke with White, we wondered if he might get back to that now that he's wrapping things up on The Losers. "Yeah absolutely," he responded. "That's something I had to let go of for a period of time while I was directing 'The Losers' but I'm back here in Los Angeles and as I'm finishing post-production on 'The Losers,' I will be diving back into the development of 'Ronin.' I'm just working along with the studio executives developing the story elements and they're attaching a writer in the spring to do a new pass on it."

"It's a very complex graphic novel and it needs very careful attention," he continued, "Of course to make a movie of that scale, you need a lot of money to pay it justice, especially with the incredible visuals that Frank Miller has in it, but at the same time, in order to get a lot of money to make the movie, it has to have enough commercial appeal, so I'm trying to balance those two things together to make the movie accessible but still smart and throw with all the great ideas and grand ideas that it has. Conceptually, it's such an amazing property, so I think it's strong appeal in that sense, and even for people, I think visually in the trailer, people will be gravitating towards that kind of subject matter and that kind of character, it's amazing."

"I'm taking my time with it," he said. "If I'm able to stay on it and develop it the way I want, I just want it to be done right. I don't want to rush it or anything like that. I want the right writer on it and it to be done carefully. So that is one of the projects I have in development."

Since White has been getting artist Jock involved with The Losers, we wondered whether he had any similar plans to collaborate or get notes from Frank Miller for Ronin. "We have been in contact," he said. "The producers, which is Gianni Nunnari and Hollywood Gang, have been very collaborative and obviously have worked with him before because they did 300, so the link is there. We're just sort of at an early stage where we're trying to structure the story and balance. It’s a whole process to get it right. Some people rush and do it quickly and you end up with bad adaptations, which happens all the time. If they give me the time to do it, I will take it to do it right. There have been drafts that were ready to go supposedly but I want to take my time to make sure that it's just good. The fanbase out there for this particularly iconic graphic (novel) is scrutinizing the project and I also don't want to let them down."

Look for our full exclusive interview with Sylvain sometime before The Losers opens on April 23.

Syfy is getting in on comic book-based programming in a big way. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the channel is set to adapt the classic Frank Miller series Ronin as well as the previously-reported Oni Press series Letter 44. TheWrap also reports that the Image Comics series Clone is being developed for the cable network as well.

Syfy is developing Ronin as a mini-series event with the search for a writer on the project ongoing. Letter 44 and Clone, on the other hand, are both being developed for series. Terminator 3 director Jonathan Mostow will pen the script and direct the pilot episode for Letter 44, while series creator David Schulner will write and executive produce Clone along with "The Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman.

Originally published from 1983-84, Ronin tells the tale of a legendary warrior, the Ronin, a dishonored, masterless 13th century samurai, who is mystically given a second chance to avenge his master's death. Finding himself suddenly reborn in a futuristic and corrupt 21st century New York City, the samurai discovers he has one last chance to regain his honor. But to do so, he must defeat the reincarnation of his master's killer, the ancient demon Agat.

Letter 44, created by Charles Soule and Alberto Alburquerque, tells the story of newly-elected President Stephen Blades, who reads the letter left for him in the Oval Office by his predecessor and learns the stunning secret that seven years earlier NASA discovered an alien construction project in the asteroid belt. A crew of heroic astronauts was sent to investigate, and they're nearing the conclusion of their epic journey.

Image Comics' Clone chronicles Dr. Luke Taylor, whose perfect life comes to a dramatic halt when an identical, bloodied version of himself arrives at his doorstep with news that he is one of many clones… and they're all after his pregnant wife and their unborn child!

Check back here for more info on Syfy's adaptations of these comic properties as we learn them.